Archive for June 2013

For those of you who are not familiar with Dewitt Jones let me introduce you to him. Dewitt is a former National Geographic photographer who explores the spiritual side of photography in lectures to both major corporations and in his writing. For about 18 years he as written a column with the header “Basic Jones” for Outdoor Photorgapher In the 2005 Landscape issue of the magazine he wrote a column entitled “A Vision” in which he tells the story of an experience that happened to him when he was 17 and employed as a canoe guide in Canada’s Quetico Provincial Park.

One day as he was canoeing he had a unique experience. He writes, “The sky seemed cut from crystal, it was that sharp. The azure liquid lake that held my canoe was alive. The pines on the edge of the lake trembled on the edge of consciousness.

Time stopped for me.

Nature seemed to be loosing her tether. What was happening? My world was becoming unhinged. I could barely breathe. I sat down for fear of losing my balance.

The more I looked at the landscape, the more it became alive…..

Dewitt goes on to describe this moment of his life when everything changed, He describes what he felt, what he saw, what he knew and how it changed him.

Just before the conclusion of his column he writes these words, “The door that opened that day would never close again. For years I couldn’t speak about it, yet hardly a day goes by in which this experience with the landscape doesn’t help direct my life.

I have not had this same experience, however I often have a unique feeling of wonderment when I enter the woods. The shadows may may turn ordinary objects into shapes that may threaten our please. Sunbeams dance across the landscape darting in and out of the shadows. The trees take on a life of their own. Some times in the middle of summer the air turns cold around me. The woods have a life of their own. The have become enchanted.

America is one of the few counties in the world where persons of age are not universally respected. America seems to be a country where youth is king and old age is considered out of touch with today. The wisdom that persons of age bring to the table is most often disregarded, considered non-relevant. Women, especially, are strongly urged to have treatments to make them look younger. I wonder why we are so enamored with youth?

One of our regular TV programs is Antiques Roadshow. And what are the items that usually bring the highest prices? Right, the older the better! Items from the Ming Dynasty are far more valuable than something made in China in the last 20 years. So why aren’t older people who have so much to offer not considered valuable in America?

The hands in this photograph are almost 75 years old. They belong to a woman who has faced many hardships through her life but who has always persevered no matter the odds. These hands are wrinkled, showing the many years of life. But they still hold the morning coffee cup, they still fly across the keyboard of her computer. These hands are still valuable. The stories they tell of her years of life still give us the story of determination, struggle, success and love. These hands belong to my wife.